Flights and First Days

I had a fantastic itinerary for my trip to Palermo: four flights, five airports, over a span of 24 hours. I flew from Spokane to Denver, to Philadelphia, to Rome, to Palermo. I left my hotel in Spokane at 4:00 am on Thursday and arrived in Palermo at midday Friday. Some of the highlights from my trip: the map of North America where all the Canadian cities were in the wrong places (Yellowknife in Alberta, anyone?), having to run through the Philadelphia airport (while being constantly goaded by signs saying "Terminal A - Ahead"), the sandwich bought in an airport (each half being just an inch wide), having my tv not work on the cross-Atlantic flight, getting many stares as I washed my hair in the airport bathroom sink and almost not making my flight out of Rome. Arriving in Rome was fairly frightening, not knowing the language, though arriving in Palermo was possibly scarier due to the fact I thought the airline had lost my luggage (luckily they hadn't).

My first days in Italy were overwhelming, but exciting. My host family is fantastic, and are eager to help me learn about the language and culture here. My second night here, my host dad brought me to Old Palermo to show me some of the city. It seemed like every few minutes he'd say "This is an important church." Sicily has a rich history, with a culture that has many influences. This area has seen many conquerors and leaders - Greek, Roman, Arabic, and Norman, to generalise - before becoming a part of Italy in 1860. This give Sicily a unique culture, quite different from other parts of Italy. I am not even going to pretend to know a lot about this region, and I hope to know much more by the end of my stay.

On Sunday (second full day here), I had my Rotary orientation. This was in Caltanissetta, south of Palermo. I got to meet the two other exchange students in Palermo, both girls from the United States. At the orientation I met the other three in the region (again more girls from the United States), who live in Catania. There was a presentation from the District youth exchange officer, however much of it was in Italian and I didn't understand it. We then presented ourselves. All the other students were able to say something in Italian, but my presentation was entirely in English. I was frustrated and embarrassed by my lack of language skills. After the orientation, five of us went for lunch with the Interact Club of Caltanissetta. After being in Interact for four years, including one year of being secretary and one of being president, I was excited to speak to another club, however, thanks to my terrific Italian, I was unable to do so.

Monday was my frist day of school. Liceo Meli has approximately 1800 students (about the same amount as half of the population of Rossland), split into several sections. My first day, I followed some English teachers around, who were happy to have a native speaker to present to the class. The classes are quite different here, in that students remain in the same room and the teachers move about, and you stay in the same set of classes. Everyone was very friendly towards me, though, and I quite enjoyed my day.

That night I attended a Rotary meeting for the Palermo club with the two other students in the city. Again, we had the pleasure of presenting ourselves. Luckily I went last and got some ideas from the other students, so I gave my introduction in Italian. Well, all I said was "Hello, my name is Michelle. I'm Canadian and live in Rossland, BC." I am aware of how pathetic this is, but any progress will be really obvious!